


Professor Layton and the Paris Caper

by soyutakethemoon



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series, リズム怪盗R | Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure
Genre: Gen, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, also transmasc charlie thats gonna be a plotpoint i swear, ill add more characters as i go but those are the most important ones for now, might add more ships later too but for now its just ranlay slowburn, they/them for charlie at first
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:00:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29839146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soyutakethemoon/pseuds/soyutakethemoon
Summary: after receiving a mysterious letter from a boy claiming to be a relative, Randall drags the Professor on yet another adventure to find out who this new "masked gentleman" is.
Relationships: Randall Ascot/Hershel Layton
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	1. Prologue part 1: a little late for visitors isn't it?

**Author's Note:**

> rhythm thief may not be getting a sequel but at least now its got a professor Layton crossover... kind of.

_**BAM** _

  


The sound of something flying full force into a sturdy pain of glass reverberated through Professor Layton’s study just long enough for him to jolt awake from the uncomfortable position he was sleeping on his desk. Far too large to be a bird.. But it hit the window with such force that the professor found it hard to think of what else it might be, it certainly wasn't thrown from below that's for sure. He stood up and walked over to the window, hand hovering over the curtains. He wasn’t about to deny he was terrified to open it but-

ah to hell with it, no risk no glory after all.

  


Layton nervously slid the curtain to the side, the light from his office pooling out onto the small balcony it connected to. Lying on the ground with what seemed to be a broken wing was none other than one Randall Ascot.  Hershel threw open the window without a second thought.

“Randall? What are you doing here?”

Randall looked up at him, clearly dazed.

“Oh hey Hersh, You’ll never guess what happened! I’m a registered UFO now!”

* * *

  


Randall hissed as Hershel pressed a damp cloth against the wound on Randall's side.

“This will be a lot easier if you stop fidgeting so much.”

“Sorry, sorry, it just hurts is all..”

Hershel nodded, reaching behind him to grab a roll of bandages.

“You’re lucky it’s not that deep, you might have needed stitches otherwise.”

Randall shuddered at the thought, shifting slightly as his friend began to wrap bandages around his torso. Once Hershel had finished he leant back against the couch, the aforementioned leaning forward and gently kissing the bandaged wound, the both of them laughing once they realised what happened. Hershel shook his head, still grinning before sitting down next to his friend.

“So, would you like to remind me why you came crashing onto my balcony at 3 am? How did you even get here so fast?”

Randall outstretched his (luckily unbroken) wings as if the answer was obvious. Hershel sighed, glancing at the mask of chaos that lay on the coffee table and then back to his friend. 

“Admittedly I kind of overestimated how long it would take me to get here. And how many people find it normal to see a grown man with wings..”

“Randall nobody thinks seeing a man with grown wings is normal.”

“Yes.”

Hershel sighed, sitting down next to Randall.

“Remind me why you’re here?”

“Oh! Right, right uh-”

Randall patted himself down, realised he wasn’t wearing a shirt and reached into his trouser pockets, pulling out a letter and a French newspaper clipping both of which he handed to Hershel. He started to ramble as Hershel read them over.

“I got a letter recently enough from a boy, Raphael I think his name is? I’m not that good at French I had to get someone to help me translate. Anyway he thinks we might be related and wants to get in contact, I’m thinking of going to visit him actua-”

“And what does this have to do with me?”

Hershel didn’t mean to come off so cold, but to be fair it was coming up to 4 am and his back hurt from being hunched over a desk all night.

“Ah! Right yes, check out the newspaper clipping he sent over as well.”

Hershel raised a brow but did as he was told, looking over the newspaper clipping. He couldn’t exactly read French but he managed to pick up the odd word or two.

“I can’t read this Randall.”

Randall rolled his eyes, moving to grab the 2 sheets of paperback from him.

“Right, well apparently there have been sightings of the masked gentleman over in Paris, which is where this mystery boy lives by the by.”

“That's.. Strange.. I’m assuming you haven’t been to Paris recently have you?”

“Of course not! This is just some faker! A-and that's why I came here! Hershel this could be our next biggest adventure, just like the old times! It’s been so long Hersh we could-”   
Randall grabbed Hershel's hands as he spoke, a certain sparkle lighting up behind his eyes.

Hershel shook his head, putting a hand on Randall's shoulder to calm him down.

“I’d love to, Randall, why don’t you stay here for a bit and we can start making preparations for the journey? I’ll have to see if Luke wants to join us..”

Randall tilted his head at the professor.

“Preparations? I was gonna say we go now! I could fly us over!”

Hershel glared at him and crossed his arms, raising a brow at his ever impulsive friend.

“Randall. It’s 4 am, you’re shirtless, injured and last time you flew somewhere you got shot down. We’re taking a plane. Besides there's no way you’re strong enough to carry me and our potential luggage, we don’t even know what this Raphael fella looks like. For now get some rest and we can plan in the morning alright?”

Randall sheepishly began fiddling with one of his wings, avoiding eye contact.

“R-right, I’m sorry I got a bit excited there.."

"Not to worry-"

Hershel gestured to the mask still sitting on the table in front of them

"Now, do you mind telling me a bit more about this? Apparently I greatly underestimated just what this is.."

Randall's eyes lit up and he grabbed the mask of the table.

"Oh I'd love to! You'll never believe just what this thing can do!"


	2. Prologue part 2: why did you want to see me again?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie meets with Phantom R to discuss the recent incidents regarding The masked gentleman

The soft clacking of shoes against stone rang out through the back alley where Phantom R was pacing, Fondue watching from his place sitting at the wall.

“If you wanted to meet me so bad you could have chosen somewhere easier to find, you know.”

Phantom R spun on his heel, turning to the sound of the sudden voice.

“Charlie! You took your sweet time getting here!”

The aforementioned detective rolled their eyes, placing a hand on their hip.

“Well I would have gotten here faster if  _ you _ \- you know what? whatever, why did you want to talk to me anyway?”

“I need information.”

“Do I look like some kind of rat to you?”

“Of course not! But I can hardly ask your father about this.”

Charlie looked offended for a second, but eventually nodded their head in agreement. They glanced behind them before approaching the Phantom Thief.

“This isn’t about the masked gentleman incidents is it?”

“Maybe it is maybe it isn’t. That depends on what you know.”

“Not much. Why do you want to know anyway? Can’t handle competition or something?”

Now it was Phantom R’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Ha ha very funny. But no, I had a run in with the guy a few nights ago. I’m a little curious, is all.”

Charlie raised a brow, smirking slightly.

“What do you know?”

“Not much, I have more questions than answers.”

“I see.. Why tell me though? Why not my father?”

“Have you met your father? At least I can talk to you without you immediately trying to arrest me.”

Charlie held back from laughing, instead choosing to hide their smirk behind their hand.

“Good point. But to be fair that's only because I have no legal authority over you.”

Phantom R frowned, before jokingly saying,

“I thought we were friends Charlie.”

They both laughed at that, Charlie shaking their head slightly.

“Ok, ok. Can you at least tell me what happened though?”

“Oh yeah, right. Ok buckle up this is a long one.”

* * *

The night air was cool, most Paris citizens well asleep by now. Phantom R had just finished returning a stolen painting and was still sneaking home, at least, that had been the plan. He hadn’t exactly expected to run into another thief, yet here he was, standing on some random rooftop, face to face with some masked stranger.

R stood back, bracing himself for whatever might happen next.

“Who.. who are you?”

The masked stranger tilted their head, folding their arms behind their back as they began approaching the phantom.

“That is none of your concern young man. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

The stranger's voice was quite deep, and they moved to walk past Phantom R. Who in turn spun around to grab their arm.

“H-hey you can’t just run off on me like that!”

The stranger swatted his hand away and turned to keep walking.

“I don’t have time for this. Leave me alone.”

Phantom R frowned, standing in shock for a while as he watched the stranger walk away. After about a minute he shook his head and chased after them.

It took a few minutes for the masked stranger to notice him, when they did they stopped walking and turned around.

“You’re quite the annoyance aren’t you? Tch- no matter.”

Phantom R shook his head, standing his ground.

“Just tell me who you a-”

He was cut off by a cloud of smoke suddenly appearing in front of him, coughing and swatting his arms wildly as the cloud cleared.

“What the-”

The stranger was gone, Phantom R saw them round a corner and ran to catch up with them. No luck, all that was left by the time he reached them was a torn scrap of fabric.

* * *

“And so?”

“And so I cut my losses and went home. I wasn’t about to spend ages chasing this dude when I didn't even know which way he went.”

Charlie sighed, scratching their head.

“Did you at least get a good look at what they looked like?”

Phantom R shook his head.

“Not really sorry. It was kind of dark at the time.. I could tell they were wearing a white-ish suit though, with a top hat and a really weird looking mask.”

“Weird looking mask? Did you see what it looked like?”

“Kind of? Again it was hard to see.. You know those smiling and frowning theatre masks?”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah! It was like the frowning one of those but with more details I guess.”

Charlie nodded, placing a hand on their chin.

“I see.. Alright. Thanks R this might actually help a bit.”

They turned to run off.

“W-wait where are you going?”

“To tell the police, duh!”

Phantom R shook his head, turning to walk off and motioning for Fondue to follow.


End file.
